Out of the mouth of babes :)

OMG....let me share a funny:

Yesterday Donnie told my mom he had a baby "dirl" (girl) in his belly, and she was going to come out of his "agina" (vagina)...Bahaha!

very random....

Ready for school.....




Hey brother can I get a hug???


"Gotcha", he's going in for the hug....... and


Sorry, Donnie no such luck........

Get off.

One question.....

Why does being a mom have to be SO hard??

And it's all the little things that I find difficult..... well, I guess that also has to do with the fact that my children are under the age of 3 yrs. old, so I guess it's the "little" things I'm going to be dealing with for a while...uh.? So, Donnie has started Preschool this year, which has been a wonderful experience for all of us....he and I both adore his school and his teacher (makes me very happy, especially being a teacher myself, I seem to be finding myself a little extra judgemental on the schools and teachers that he may have to encounter.) Anyways, while he is having a wonderful experience, we have had a few little things pop up. One incident was him not being called on to be ring the "clean-up bell", he kinda had a little meltdown (crying, not tantrum), his teacher said.....not a big deal she just had to explain that everyone needs a turn and it wasn't his turn that day, his friend Reese let him ring it with her to make him feel better (how sweet!) Second, I guess he was playing in the gym with his class and stepped on another kids stomach (I think in a playing manner, but still)....his teacher told him not to do that and he started crying, then he didn't want to be around her for the rest of the gym time (I have to admit this one kinda made me laugh....like duh, Donnie why would you step on another kid??)

I guess the hard part for me is trying to explain to a 3 yr. old to just deal with the "no's" or the time-outs, or whatever consequence he has to face. I don't want him to be....... ummmm, how should I put this without making it sound bad, well, not sure so I'll just say it, I don't want him to be a sissy. And yes, I know he's only 3 and he just started preschool, but I also knows he's a little sensitive. Which is one of the things I completely love and adore about him, it's what makes him my sweet little boy. I also know being a teacher that it amazes me how many kids can't just take the consequence that's handed out to them.....without throwing a fit. Maybe, that's it, maybe it's more so that when he gets older I don't want him to question authority or put up a fuss, or act like a "baby", but to simply know that when he does something unacceptable you've gotta face the punishment period.

Oh, my gosh I can't believe I just went on for 2 paragraphs about Donnie and being a little sensitive. Can you say over analyzing or what??? haha! Anyone else ever do that with your kids though? It's like I want my kids to be "perfect" and I know this obviously is non-existent, what is perfect anyways......oh, the woes of motherhood.

Hi there.....

Oh. My. Slacker!! I just read this post and felt like it was about myself.....only add 2 months to that, geez how pathetic can I get!??

Well, there's been lot's going on around here....not really sure where to start so I'm just gonna start writing, I'm sure this will be plenty chaotic. Hmmmm....much like my life lately!

First: Momma Drama.....(cause I seem to be the only one on earth who seems to think this is a slightly big deal or it could just be my hormones?)

Yesterday Donnie was at my parents house & him and my Dad were rough housing, because of course that's what men have to do is rough house with a 3 yr. old....make sure we make our 3 yr. old more "manly" I guess! Anyways, I called over there and my Mom tells me Donnie's tooth is loose....his FRONT tooth, the main tooth in the front! And sure enough it was bleeding all last night....I'm just waiting for it to come out! I called Dr. Pink's office....his dentist & there's really nothing that we can do. It's a baby tooth so they don't put a fake one in, yes I did ask that, can you believe I asked if they'd give my 3 yr. old a fake tooth!?? My co-workers think I should "bling" him out and ask if I can get him a gold tooth. Lord help me!! Anyways, looks like Donnie will be loosing one of his front teeth waaaaaay before the rest of his little buddies.....and I'm completely devastated over this! I know it's stupid, and it's only cosmetic, but my gosh the kid is 3 yrs. old, so that means for the next 3-4yrs. he's gonna have to have one tooth missing in the front!! I feel so bad, there's absolutely nothing I can do either. I was up at 4am. thinking about this tooth issue!! I'm a dork I know.....

Second: Baby..... BOY that is! (23 weeks preggers)

Yes, sure enough that's all that my husband can seem to shoot.....boys! I was a little upset at first because I really was hoping for a little girl to add to our brood, but all is good now. I've gotten over the initial selfish sadness.... no pink, no hair bows, no prom dress shopping, no hair & make-up tips, no motherly bonding talks....etc. I seem to be pretty content with the fact that we'll be a family of five with only one princess in this house....ME! ;) (Jokingly saying this, as Don always seems to reassure me, there's only room for one of me in this house! Thanks honey you always know just what to say! haha!)

Names: We've got only a couple that we can agree on:

Cole (Anderson??) Huff
&
Jackson or Jaxon Huff (can't think of a middle name for this one...any suggestions??)

Third: What to do about vaccines......

Thinking about getting the boys there flu shots this week.....was, thinking I should say, because now they're sick again! Colds, colds, colds, we (me & the boys) can not seem to shake this nasty cold virus. I swear we just got over one cold and now were on to the next!! So, maybe early next week I'll be able to get myself and the boys into the Dr.'s for the flu shots, since you're only supposed to get them when you're healthy. But, man at the rate were going we'll have already gone through all the viruses by the time we actually make it to the Dr.'s!! Swine flu shots.....for me, yes, as I'm pregnant & they highly recommended it, as for the boys, I think so, people are kinda making me second guess the Dr.'s though....you know the ones that spent 4 years in medical school, internships, conferences, & whatever the heck else they have to do? I should just go with my gut & the Dr.'s advice to get the shots....I need to trust that instead of the hype.

Okay, so I think that covers a few items on my list to chat about..... ahhhhhh, feeling a little better now that I've gotten a start.

3 1/2 yrs. = Potty Trained :)

Let me just say, I honestly thought this day would never come. Donnie has had ZERO interest in using the potty, he didn't want any part of taking that diaper off, and I really didn't push the subject, I thought if I did he would regress, I'm glad I took this approach as I think it worked for him. Needless to say when I decided this week we were gonna go "cold turkey" and just take the diaper off, I was pleasantly surprised at how accepting he was to this change. I'll fill you in a little on Donnie's personality.... 1) If he doesn't want to do something....there's NO "talking him into it", he's super stubborn. 2) He doesn't like it when we make a BIG deal about things (i.e. big boy bed, big boy underroos), he didn't want to talk about the big boy underwear/potty, or tell others about his new feat, he just wanted to do it, no fuss over it..... in other words, no sticker chart, no rewards, nothing....strange for a little kid, I know?? But, it worked for him and we have success folks!! Potty training was VERY successful, easier than I could have asked for.... a few accidents here and there, but for the most part fresh and dry throughout the day!! It was literally like a light bulb flicked on and he just got it. Yesterday & today were accident free!




Things we are still working on & any advice would be accepted:

* No poop in the toilet yet...he still does not want to commit to that concept yet & I'm not sure what to do about it??



* Still in diapers during nap & bedtime.....I think it's more me than him, don't know if I'm ready for the clean-up during the night??




*** I never knew how proud I would be to watch my little guy use the potty all on his own!!***

Question???

Question:

What do you use in regards to lettuce....bagged, a fresh head??? How do you keep it fresh, wrap it in damp paper towel, a krisper bowl?? I'm thinking buying the bags is a waste of my money, they last what a whole day after the initial opening??? Grrrr..... Help me out??

Once again.....bullets:

Oh, my my, where has the summer gone and every minute in between?? Lot's of new things happening around here and I hate to always do the bullets style format, but paragraphs just don't seem appropriate when you're going through a list in your head.....at least that is how my mind works!! So on with the bullets:

• BIG NEWS: Donnie has been in big-boy underroos for 3 days now.....minus the times we've gone somewhere or at bed/nap time, as he's still getting the hang of it. I have to say though, he's doing really well, he's had a few accidents, but normally he'll start to pee & then quickly say "Mom I peed" just in the midst of him doing it, he also hasn't gone poopy on the toilet yet, not sure when this step will happen, but I can tell he really isn't too interested in doing that part on the potty....we shall see??
• We have a screamer on our hands folks.....Nolan is a screamer, he lets us know where he is at all times by his loud scream, which is pretty funny too me because before Nolan started his screaming I used to despise kids that had that high pitched squeal of a scream, I seriously wanted to just put duck-tape on their mouths, it irritated me to no end....and look now I've got a screamer! ha! I at least can say it's not a high pitched ear piercing scream, for right now.
• Nolan uses a fork and spoon decently well, he wants them at every meal time as he has to do and be just like his older brother......
• Don bought a boat....yup, that's right a boat, what the HELL?? Yeah, that was what I was thinking, but those of you that know Don know he's an impulsive person when it comes to purchases. Actually, what we are going to do is use the boat up-north for our family vacation on Lake Manistique, fishing, tubing, etc....and probably keep it till' the end of the summer then turn around a sell it for a few more $$'s than he bought it for.....what can I say he's a salesman at heart! So, if anyone wants to join us for a weekend on the water....just let us know!??
• Donnie and Nolan got amazing closet organizers put in their closets this past weekend.....courtesy of Ryan B.:) They are GREAT and couldn't have turned out better! We owe him, he spent all weekend at our house working on closets.
• Oh, duh, my pregnancy! :) Well, I'm almost 14 weeks (Sunday) and still nauseous, but getting a little better, I think. I've been less tired and still gaining weight, but of course I've never had a problem with that during my pregnancy's, the weight part .:) Donnie puts his ear up to my belly and wants to hear the baby and when he gets done he says...."the baby said Mama Mama" ....awe how sweet!
• School will be starting up just a few weeks after we get back from our vacation.... I still can't believe it's the end of July! (And I'm thinking about school already...lol!) I'm always excited to start school though, all the new little faces in my classroom, setting my room up, picking out the perfect "welcome back" bulletin boards, and the BEST part is that this will be my 1st year out of the 4 years I've been teaching (wow, I can't believe next year will be my 4th year teaching for JPS) I'll be in the same room, same building, and same grade (2)...... I'm thrilled, to say the least!! Maybe this will be the one year I'm not running around learning/meeting new curriculum, new principal, new building, new policies, new staff, ect..... YAY!!!

Okay, boys are napping....and momma needs to finish some laundry....gahhhh! Story of my life...

Random Thoughts for Friday...

• I just ate a taco at 10:30 this morning....I'm thinking like brunch? Weird!
• Had my 11 week Dr. appt. Wed., no heartbeat heard, but I had an ultrasound by LeeAnn a few weeks ago & the heartbeat was 171 beats per minute. Doesn't that seem awfully high!? Maybe it was just that fact that I was only about 9 weeks....I dunno, just seems high to me. Still feeling nauseous, still on Zofran, still hoping it goes away REAL soon!
• SO wishing I had first floor laundry.... I HATE having to go into our dingy basement to do laundry, I think that's one of the main reasons I always put it off, I have to go up 3 flights of stairs to get the laundry to the bedrooms.....hate that! Our next home WILL, I repeat will have first floor laundry, and if by some chance it's not on the first floor the laundry room will be NICE ....tiled, cabinets, clean/fresh/new, some place I actually won't mind spending 90% of my day (when it's laundry day...KWIM?)
• I can't believe it's already July...the 4th of July tomorrow! What the heck, where did summer go?? Getting excited for our Mackinac & Curtis trip in a few weeks.... firt stop Mackinac McGowan Family reunion, next stop the U.P for my families vacation on Lake Manistique.... by FAR the highlight of my summer, year after year!
• I have a graduate class/workshop next week.... ALL day long 8:30-5:00, 3 credits & $500 & some dollars later, not bad for a week long 3 credit class though! MUST finish these classes to get my "Professional (instead of Provisional) Teaching Certificate". It should be fairly easy as well, that will bring my grand total to 9 credits....WOW, a whooping 9 credits, oh well I figure it's a start to finish the 36 total credits right?? It's something :)
• PLEASE pray for me & my potty training wows, I'm doing the cold turkey, NO DIAPER method this weekend. I've simply got a little boy, who doesn't have much interest in it, so now it's time for some force to the issue.....I've been reading these different theories & methods, but I know for Donnie it's just gonna take the "cold turkey method" (as I call it!)
• Excited for a friend who will be meeting there new baby boy next week....via open adoption, baby boy #2 congrats!!
• Wanting to organize my closets upstairs, mine & the boys mainly. I seriously need help, I need an organizational specialist to come over & just work some magic, my closets have turned into this horrible clutter of a mess, a HOT mess I tell ya! I need to get motivated and just DE-CLUTTER & good will stuff....stuff that we DON'T need, ugh! I hate having clutter! Am I nesting already??
• Trying to figure out what to do with Nolan and bedrooms and what to use for him now (or in Jan. when baby comes) a bed, a crib, should I buy a new cheap twin bed for him? Use our guest room queen for the time being? Keep him in his crib for a while?
• What in the world am I making for dinner tonight?? Hmmmm?